12: INTERLUDE
A girl sauntered into the classroom just as the bell rang. Sociably she smiled or waved at other students as she took her seat.
"Barely on time, Miss Preist, as usual," commented the teacher snydely. "I assume Faith is right behind you?"
"Oh, yeah. We decided she'd get here two minutes after me, to make me look better." The entire class burst into laughter, the girl included, gray-blue eyes sparkling with mischievous fun.
The teacher's mouth grew very small as she pressed her lips together. "Let's give your friend three minutes to sit her behind down at her desk before I send a note to the attendance office." When the teacher turned her back, the girl imitated the teacher with a simpering face, and several students tried to mask their laughter. Three minutes later, the class began, and the girl switched from drawing on her desk to drawing on her notepad, interspersing the pictures with occasional notes on the Bill of Rights. The desk beside her remained empty the entire period.
As the girl left the classroom, she walked right into another student. "Yo, Faith!" Miss Preist exclaimed, "Where were ya durin' history?"
The larger girl draped her arm over her companion's shoulders as the two of them navigated the hallway. "Places. Better places than Wagner's class."
"I can believe it. But still...Cutter!" She gently kicked Faith's shin. "Ditcher! Loser!"
At the last word, Faith's eyes lit up. "If ya wanna hear about losers, lemme tell ya about the lady who talked to me just now. Ya won't believe it, P, it's outrageous."
"Arright, spill."
For an instant, Faith's grin vanished as she looked at the number of students swarming around them. "C'mon, let's chat in the bathroom."
The girl hopped up and sat on the sink counter, only to seconds later make a face. "Great, now my ass is wet."
"Deal with it, P. Lemme tell ya the story. So this weird English gal comes up to me and she's like, 'Ahh yeu Miss Faith?' An' I'm like, sure, lady, who the hell are you? And she says, 'I am Elizabeth Bahlkin, yoh Watchah.' An' she tells me I'm this superchic called the Slayer, an' it's like my sacred duty or something to kick the asses of vampires and stuff."
"Cool!" interjected P. "That's just like in the movies, only weirder."
"Nah, it's even better. I'm s'posed to have like superpowers or somethin', cos vampires are superstrong."
"Not that it's not awesome an' all, Faith – cos it is – but I hope this sacred duty of yours isn't gonna stop us from hangin' tonight. I mean, yeah, maybe we could work in some vampire hunting, but I pretty much had partying in mind. But no reason why we can't do both." P smiled happily at her friend, who was finally getting a much-deserved lucky break.
"Not that it'll be much of a problem. I doubt vampires wanna party. They're just kinda weird, blood-sucking monster guys, right?"
"'Zactly."
In jumping down from the counter, P slipped in a puddle of water and fell to the floor. "Fuck!" she exclaimed, and grabbed her ankle.
"Y'alright, P?" Faith asked with a frown.
The smaller girl stood up cautiously, and then decided her ankle was fine. "I'm five by five," she told the Slayer with a conspiratory grin, running a hand through her copper-colored hair, messing it up skillfully.